Debby Yoder, Contributor

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Atlanta’s Beltline and Uncertain Futures for an Inclusive City

Photo Credit: Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Posted by Jonathan Coe, ATLANTA, GA -- The Atlanta Beltline
began as a Master Thesis by RyanGravel a graduate student at Georgia Institute
of Technology
and gained momentum as a grassroots effort well over a decade ago. The Beltline
is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects going on in the country with
new trails, art, retail and housing along a 22-mile loop of historic and mostly
unused rail that surround the city. Sections of the Beltline have already been
completed and the final project will connect 45 in-town neighborhoods –
neighborhoods that vary greatly in terms of racial and socioeconomic
composition.

Photo Credit: Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Public transportation in Atlanta is furnished by MARTA, a
rail and bus system notorious for its lack of coverage in the sprawling
“Capital of the South.” MARTA was one of the Beltline’s first supporters,
endorsing it as a future transportation option in Atlanta. Consultants were
hired, land was purchased, and Atlanta Beltline Inc. (ABI) was formed to
oversee the development and garnering federal and private funds. By 2010, the
Beltline began unveiling new phases for redevelopment, hosting 5k races and art
exhibitions, and holding public forums on plans for future amenities.

By 2011, the Beltline acquired land for affordable housing
development for those making under the median city income. That same year, a
developer purchased the long-abandoned City Hall East building with plans to
redevelop the space into a high-end, mixed-use behemoth – Ponce City Market.
The proposed site is advantageously located directly on the Beltline in the
trendy Ponce-Highland retail area.

At the same time, the Beltline’s Equitable Development Plan
emphasizes a balance of economic, environmental and social considerations.
While ABI plans on developing thousands of affordable housing units in Beltline
neighborhoods, it currently has just over 100. Meanwhile, high-rise condos and
lavish office space are taking root at a much faster pace. In the area around
Ponce City Market alone, one development will be home to 238 high-priced single-family
units. The Market itself will house companies in the IT, marketing, and
(fittingly) architecture and real estate industries. There are many new
loft-style developments on the Southeast Trail, many renting for thousands and
selling for hundreds of thousands for a one-bedroom unit. The discrepancy
between affluent in-town living and affordability in the city core resembles
income inequality and gentrification trends seen in Atlanta for over a
half-century (Atlanta has been ranked one of the most gentrified cities in the
United States multiple times).

Public transportation in Atlanta has been criticized as
insufficient for such an internationally-relevant city. MARTA’s two main lines
barely extend beyond the sprawling city’s perimeter, leaving huge portions of
both the city and its suburbs underserved. The marriage between MARTA and the
Beltline was supposed to provide users with diverse and more comprehensive
transportation options. Yet, after ten years, there has been little progress.
According to the Beltline website, all that the ABI, the city, and MARTA have
accomplished has been a number of feasibility studies.

Atlanta has also been working on a street car initiative,
and in October 2014 it began testing its finished product. The downtown
Streetcar system links the east and west portions of the Beltline while
connecting business with culture entities along the way. The Connect Atlanta
Plan has determined that the most effective short-term strategy is to limit the
Streetcar to downtown and midtown. ABI says it wants to improve quality of life
and accessibility, and its Plan is to attract new real estate development and
businesses. Given MARTA’s dysfunctional reputation and the limitation of
Streetcar-Beltline connectivity to downtown and midtown, it is unlikely the
Beltline will find an effective transportation partner any time soon.

The Beltline’s Westside Trail is housed in the West End, a
historically black neighborhood in southwest Atlanta. This area was hit hard by
the Recession and, with the Beltline looming, long-time residents are uncertain
about the future supply of affordable housing. The “interim” Westside Trail is
cleared but unpaved, and its backdrop includes “Warehouse Row,” a series of
large abandoned warehouses directly on the trail. One of the largest is the
former Exide Battery plant that closed in 1988. A private firm bought the plant
in 2006 for mixed-use redevelopment but has yet to clear the area, which is
still contaminated with pollution from the plant. According to the Beltline,
the area is on the EPA’s Superfund list and is expected to be taken care of
soon. But Exide, who is obligated to clean up fifteen similar sites across the
country, is bankrupt, leaving the fate of the site unknown.

Since 2009 the nonprofit Living Walls has commissioned
artists from around the world to paint murals around Atlanta, and much of this
art is on the Beltline. In December 2012, residents of the Pittsburgh
neighborhood, a low to moderate income African American community, convinced
officials to paint over a mural by French artist Pierre Roti because they were
displeased by its “demonic” images. The incident in Pittsburgh called attention
to the lack of public involvement regarding the location of the murals, their
content, and who will create them. Living Walls and local councilpersons have
since pledged to increase public involvement, but the issue still underscores
issues of income and racial inequality, disproportionate political capital, and
gentrification in the city.

Photo Credit: David Rotenstein

Jonathan Coe is a Masters of Public Policy student at the
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. You can
reach Jonathan at jonathantcoe@gmail.com.

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